KIEV -- Ukraine's parliament Wednesday approved the long-stalled nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in a major boost for worldwide nuclear arms reduction efforts.


The vote, which carried 301-8 with 20 abstentions, followed months of intense diplomatic lobbying by the international community, particularly the United States. It is a significant step in strengthening ties between the West and Ukraine, the world's third-largest nuclear power.


President Leonid Kuchma, elected last July, has staked a great deal of his political credibility on steering the treaty through an often recalcitrant parliament.


Both Kuchma and the United States were pushing for the treaty to be accepted by legislators before his state visit to Washington next week.


The former missile plant director has portrayed possession of the weapons, which Ukraine has no capability to launch, as a profound liability.


"Experts estimate it will cost $10 billion to $30 billion a year to keep nuclear weapons," Kuchma told legislators. "It means we have to sell all our possessions to keep them."


"Delay (in approval) will only jeopardize our nation's sovereignty and security," he said.


Vyacheslav Chornovil, leader of the main nationalist party Rukh, said,


"By this action, we have proved our intention to proceed toward complete nuclear disarmament." Nationalists have been among the forefront of opposition to adherence to the treaty.


Russia welcomed the decision Wednesday.


"This is an extremely positive step, so necessary now for strengthening security and stability in Europe," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Krylov said, according to Interfax.


Ukraine inherited an arsenal of 176 nuclear missiles and around 1,800 nuclear warheads when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.


Ukraine took the first step toward becoming a non-nuclear state in February when it ratified the START-1 disarmament treaty after a series of delays. Although Ukraine has begun dismantling a significant number of its intercontinental missiles as part of a U.S.-funded three-way agreement among Washington, Moscow and Kiev, it had hesitated in ratifying the Non-Proliferation Treaty.


Officials had cited insufficient financial compensation and a lack of security guarantees from Russia and other states.


"Obstacles halting accession to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty have been overcome," Foreign Minister Hennady Udovenko told deputies Wednesday.


He said satisfactory guarantees in the form of a multinational memorandum signed by the United States, Britain and Russia had, after months of negotiations, been received just hours earlier. A similar security assurance will be issued by France, Udovenko assured legislators. Udovenko heralded the security pledges as a "triumph for Ukrainian diplomacy and Ukrainian independence." He stressed that they included assurances against Ukraine being attacked by both nuclear and conventional weapons together with substantial financial support from the West.


Ukraine's accession further commits the former Soviet republic of 52 million people to attain nuclear-free status by about the turn of the century.


Washington has strongly backed Ukraine's new economic reforms under Kuchma this year, spurring Kiev to proceed with its denuclearization program.


Around half the $700 million in U.S. aid for Ukraine in 1994 was targeted at dismantling it's nuclear stockpile.


U.S. Ambassador William Miller described Wednesday's decision as "a major step in the post-Cold War order that is being constructed by the new nations."


Ukraine's participation in the global treaty will lift U.S. export restrictions on high-technology and remove a Russian condition for implementation of the START-1 treaty.


Ukraine's formal signing of the treaty will take place Dec. 5 or 6 at a meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, to be held in Budapest, Kuchma said.